ESXi embedded vs. ESXi installable FAQ

With the rise of ESXi - starting with version 3.5 in 2007/8 and now being the exclusive type-1 hypervisor architecture of VMware - there has always been some confusion about the meaning of the terms "ESXi embedded" vs. "ESXi installable".

With this blog post I will try to answer the FAQs around this topic and provide some useful background information.

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The not-so-zero downtime VMware Tools Upgrade in vSphere 5.1

One of the cool new features of vSphere 5.1 is something that was announced as "Zero downtime VMware Tools upgrade". On my personal Top 5 list of vSphere 5.1 new features I even rated it #2, not without being skeptical about the zero downtime promise ...

A recent post by William Lam on the VMware vSphere Blog clarifies in what scenarios the zero downtime really applies. It is worth being fully read, but for readers who are always in a rush (or have a too short attention span ;-) I will wrap it up in a few bullet points:

• It works for Windows guests only, starting with Windows Vista
• If device drivers that are needed for booting (Display, vmscsi, pvscsi) are updated then a reboot is still required
• KB2015163 explains in detail if and when a reboot is still required after updating the Tools in a Windows VM

Please note: Given the fact that device drivers are rarely updated this is still a great progress compared to the pre-5.1 VMware Tools that would always require a reboot after an update!

VMware, please fix IPv6 support in ESXi!

In a recent blog post I wrote about my efforts to implement IPv6 in my hosted virtual lab. This is working all fine for my VMs now, but to complete the picture I also wanted to configure IPv6 for the public management / VMkernel interface of the physical ESXi host (Please note: you do not need IPv6 support for the management interface if you just want to use IPv6 with your VMs - these are really two different networks!)

To come to the point: I am currently not able to make my ESXi host use IPv6!

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Top VMware and Virtualization Blog voting 2013 now open

Just a quick note: Eric Siebert over at vsphere-land.com just launched this year's voting for the Top VMware and Virtualization Blogs. This blog is listed in the categories "Independent Blogger" (and among "all" of course). Make yourself heard and vote here!

HP releases Service Pack 2013.02.0 for ProLiant and updated software for ESXi 5.x

Yesterday HP released version 2013.02.0 of their Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP). This is a (bootable) ISO file that contains the latest firmware and driver packages for ProLiant servers. What's new:

• Added online deployment of a select set of firmware components to systems running VMware ESXi 5.x (that means you can now deploy Smart Components through HP SUM!)
• Support for new hardware devices and OS versions
• Support for PXE booting the SPP ISO
• Updated HP Smart Update Manager (SUM) to version 5.3.5

Additional information:

• Full release notes
• February 2013 VMware FW and Software Recipe (Recommended Firmware and software versions)

On http://vibsdepot.hp.com/ there are updated Offline bundles and drivers for VMware ESXi 5.x available (see the feb2013 directory for downloads).

The latest versions of the HP customized installation ISOs are available for ESXi 5.0 U2 and ESXi 5.1. As usual they do not include the latest ESXi patch level. For instructions on how to build a custom ISO with the latest VMware patch level and the latest HP stuff please see this blog post.

I have updated my HP & VMware Links page to include the new releases.

Implementing IPv6 in a hosted virtual lab

Did you know that the IPv6 standard was drafted more than 14 years ago, in Dec 1998? Adoption grew very slowly since then, but with today's ongoing exhaustion of IPv4 addresses IPv6 is gaining momentum:

• Almost all important ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and big companies that make business on the Internet already use and support IPv6.
• More an more other companies and institutions look into implementing IPv6 for their Internet-facing services (mainly public web sites).
• All modern Operating Systems have built-in support for IPv6. Many of them (inlcuding Windows 7/8) have it enabled by default.

IPv6 is inescapable. It's here. It's here to stay. It matters. Are you ready?

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My ownCloud adventures, Part 2: Certificates and Windows access

This is the second part of my postings about ownCloud, an Open source solution for managing your data in the cloud. The first part covered the installation and initial configuration of the BitNami ownCloud stack virtual appliance. I will continue with explaining how to secure access to your data with SSL certificates and using WebDAV in Windows to access your ownCloud files.

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